Innovating Compassion

by Irwin Kula

So a neurosurgeon, a visionary educator and a rabbi walk into a bar… I met Dr. James Doty and Angela Maiers a few weeks back at the BIF9 storyteller summit, a remarkable gathering of over 400 innovators from across fields – science, technology, business, health, music, education, design, and social justice.

Thirty-two people were invited to tell their innovation stories, each of which enchanted and elevated heart, mind and spirit. The first three stories – mine, Angela’s, and James’ were just released and there has been such buzz around them that we decided it would be fun to take the conversation to the next level. So thanks to BIF, here we are talking about innovating compassion!

Editor’s note: The video above (source: The Wisdom Daily) is of a live google hangout with Kula, Maiers and Doty. Each of their *individual* presentations from the 9th annual Business Innovation Factory Summit can be viewed by clicking on the links below. Each storyteller is given 15 minutes.

What is BIF?

Story behind the story:

Nine years of connecting, collaborating and experimenting has brought us to a simple conclusion — innovators are wired differently. One of the nation’s most renowned storytelling gatherings, the BIF Summit provides innovators with the space to be curious and crazy, get inspired and collide with unusual collaborators. Benevolent troublemakers need community, a space to play and opportunities to collide. The BIF Summit exists as a means to enable a purposeful community of innovation junkies who want to design, prototype and test new business models and social systems in the real world.

Last year, over 400 innovators from around the globe headed to Providence for two days of storytelling. An audience representing 8 countries, 27 states and a multitude of private and public industries, created the perfect sandbox to drive conversation and creativity. The BIF Summit focused on great storytelling, allowing our audience to connect the dots while themes such as finding your purpose, building community and identifying better ways to deliver value emerged. – from About BIF

image credit: Stephanie Alvarez Ewens

Wait! Before you go…

Irwin Kula is a provocative religious leader and a respected spiritual iconoclast. A cutting-edge scholar, teacher, and rabbi, he brings the insights of an ancient tradition to the challenges of the present to help people live more fully. Named by Fast Company magazine and PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly as one of the new leaders shaping the American spiritual landscape, Kula offers a broad vision of religious pluralism. His blog The Wisdom Daily, is a new site for political, cultural and spiritual commentary and analysis.

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That was an extraordinary conversation! What a brilliant idea to bring three people from such different professions together to talk about a common passion – compassion. Jim Doty’s comments on the topic should erase anyone’s doubts about how important it is to live, breathe, practice, share, and nurture compassion.